For Immediate Release

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) contracted with Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal), and its partner, the National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality (NICHQ), to evaluate neonatal quality improvement projects led by state Medicaid agencies and funded through Medicaid Transformation Grants. In addition, through the contract, titled Modernizing Medicaid: Multi-State Coordination, Optimal will promote collaboration between the three states implementing the neonatal clinical interventions: Arkansas, North Carolina, and Ohio. The goal of the project is to improve outcomes for premature infants in these states and to develop an evidence-based approach to premature birth that will ultimately be offered to all of the states. Through this project, Optimal will measure the outcomes of the neonatal interventions and establish an initial assessment on how states collect baseline data.

Optimal will also facilitate interstate conversations and communication on the benefits of state involvement in the collaboration through quarterly calls, an accessible Information Library, and identify and share promising practices. These resources will provide a learning network that will allow the states to discuss lessons learned and best practices with implementing the interventions and promoting quality care in NICUs.

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Optimal Solutions Group, LLC is a nonpartisan, public policy research consulting firm in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. Optimal is committed to supplying insightful program evaluation, cost-benefit and effectiveness analyses, custom econometric modeling, and market analyses for decision makers in both the public and private sectors.

Optimal serves numerous government and commercial clients, including federal and state agencies, community-based organizations, business associations, and law firms. 

For more information, please contact:
Dr. Mark Turner at 301.918.7301, mturner@optimalsolutionsgroup.com. 
Tracye Turner at 301.918.7302, tturner@optimalsolutionsgroup.com.